157: Your Majesty, it's time to pay salaries.

Ling Qi rubbed her sleepy eyes and was startled to realize it was already the afternoon of the next day.

Although, as a Six-Tailed Demon Fox, her molting speed had always been rapid, shedding all six tails at once still left her feeling quite uncomfortable.

That empty, weightless feeling was as if she had lost some important support.

Ling Qi subconsciously turned her head, her gaze falling upon the peaceful sleeping face of Shang Wan Ning beside her.

She saw that Wanling's exquisite, picture-perfect face appeared even more beautiful and moving in the soft light, making one's heart fill with joy. She gazed at her quietly, and the more she looked, the more she felt that Her Majesty the Empress's beauty was truly a feast for the eyes.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but just as Ling Qi was lost in her gaze, she suddenly saw Wanling's thick, long eyelashes quiver slightly.

The next moment, a pair of warm, strong hands pulled her tightly into an embrace, and a cool, moving voice of an Older Sister Type sounded in her ear: "Sorry, Qi Qi. The tails are bald!"

As the words fell, Shang Wan Ning lifted the brocade quilt covering her and looked down at what she was clutching in her hand—it was a section of a pink, tender tail root.

The snow-white fur that should have covered it was now almost entirely gone, having fallen out almost completely.

Ling Qi's face instantly flushed red, and she whispered: "Your Majesty, can you let go?"

Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, barely audible.

"Oh, oh! Okay." Shang Wan Ning released her hand as if waking from a dream.

Ling Qi hurriedly took the opportunity to pull her tail back behind her, her pretty face already flushed with red.

She inwardly felt extremely annoyed. How did she end up being hugged by Shang Wan Ning just like that? It was so embarrassing!

At this moment, she heard Shang Wan Ning say softly: "Qi Qi's tail..." Her words were full of apology.

Ling Qi took a deep breath, steadied herself, and replied with a smile: "Don't worry, Your Majesty."

"In a few days, new fur will grow out." After saying this, she lowered her eyes, masking the trace of annoyance hidden in her gaze.

【Why did I agree to her? Why did I agree to her? Why did I agree to let her use my tail???】

Netherworld, Evil Dog Ridge

An Iron-Haired Dog with a massive beastly body covered in fur as tough as iron darted agilely through a group of fierce, clawing evil ghosts.

Its sturdy figure was as fast as lightning, easily crossing one obstacle after another.

It charged straight toward where Shang Wan Ning was and slammed solidly into her thigh.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Accompanied by a loud and cheerful bark, the surrounding yin energy trembled slightly.

Shang Wan Ning's body swayed from the sudden impact, but she quickly steadied herself.

She looked down, and her gaze was instantly drawn to "Big Dog," who was sitting obediently on the ground, head tilted up, blinking its large, bright eyes.

At this moment, Big Dog's tail was wagging back and forth like a flag fluttering in the wind, expressing its uncontrollable inner joy.

It looked just like an excited pet seeing its master come to visit.

【It seems this furry little guy quite likes me.】

This thought was the first to emerge in Shang Wan Ning's mind.

Immediately after, she noticed that Big Dog was actually holding a skull emitting a strange aura in its mouth.

Thus, she looked suspiciously at the giant, furry Iron-Haired Dog in front of her and asked: "Is this... for me?"

"Woof!"

Hearing the question, Big Dog barked in response, then opened its mouth, and the skull fell straight to the ground.

Big Dog hurriedly lowered its head, stretched out its two front paws to carefully push the skull to Her Majesty the Empress's feet, and then sat down firmly.

"Woof, woof, woof!" A few more crisp barks rang out.

【It really likes me a lot, to even be willing to gift me its favorite evil ghost skull!!!】

【However, I feel like something is a bit strange and awkward somewhere?】

Shang Wan Ning clenched her fists tightly, suppressing the urge to beat the dog's head.

She took a deep breath, then slowly bent down and reached out to pick up the skull, which looked a bit eerie, from the ground.

When she looked closely, the trace of joy and awkwardness that had arisen in her heart from certain things instantly froze into ice.

On the skull, there were several large characters carved crookedly with the claws of some unknown animal: "Your Majesty, it's time to pay wages!"

Seeing these characters, Shang Wan Ning couldn't help but curse inwardly: "Who is it? Who on earth was so loose-lipped and told the Iron-Haired Dog pack about the wages!"

You have to know, she had over a hundred Tier 4 Iron-Haired Dog subordinates and one Tier 5 leader under her command.

Each year, the cost of incense offerings alone for these guys was not a small amount.

Not to mention those numerous Tier 1 Iron-Haired Dogs with their astonishing reproduction speed.

The reproductive ability of these Tier 1 Iron-Haired Dogs was simply staggering; they could produce five or six cubs in a single litter.

However, because their innate aptitude was extremely low, breaking through to Tier 2 was almost as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Coupled with this innate, super-strong reproductive ability, their offspring's aptitude became worse with each generation.

Shang Wan Ning had once considered implementing sterilization measures for these Iron-Haired Dogs, but she eventually gave up on this idea.

After all, she was also a boy in her past life, and doing this was truly too nerve-wracking...

...Rinse the surgical site with boiling pepper water, then carefully make a small incision, squeeze it out like toothpaste... then slice and cut it off... After the surgery, insert a wax needle into the urethra to prevent the urethral opening from becoming blocked...

【Wait, I'm thinking about the wrong thing, I'm thinking about the wrong thing.】

Shang Wan Ning pinched her palm hard, "Forget it, forget it! Forget the educational videos from my past life."

【Crying tomato!】

But now, seeing the number of Iron-Haired Dogs rapidly increasing from the initial hundred or so to nearly ten thousand.

【Eh! shenting acupoint~ it really hurts!】

As soon as Big Dog saw Her Majesty's face, which was as colorful as a spilled palette, it immediately stood up from the ground, moved its four short legs, and began to circle around Shang Wan Ning.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Big Dog: "Don't forget to pay my wages, woof!" After barking, it even wagged its tail a few times.

Shang Wan Ning just sneered, "Heh!"

Then she reached out a hand, grabbed Big Dog by the scruff of its neck, and lifted it up.

At this moment, Shang Wan Ning carried Big Dog with one hand, moving as if the wind was beneath her feet, almost trotting forward.

She clenched her fingertips, her black eyes burning with raging fire, as if she wanted to burn everything in front of her to ashes.

Her teeth chattered as she gritted them, and she said fiercely: "I know, and I know who is behind this!!!"